Ukraine – At the expense of the poor. Why do prosecutors receive 200 thousand hryvnias in pensions and what do government officials plan to do about it?

The minimum pension is UAH 2,310 per month, and almost 400,000 Ukrainian pensioners receive up to UAH 3,000, according to data from the Pension Fund. This is despite the fact that the record-breaking pensioner receives UAH 390,000 – 160 times more than the minimum and 16 times more than the maximum allowed by law.

Such injustice generates distrust in the pension system and citizens' reluctance to be part of it: to work officially and make contributions to social funds. As a result, the state loses up to UAH 230 billion in taxes every year due to the fact that a significant part of Ukrainians works in the shadows.

The authorities have finally taken notice and decided to review some special pension regimes. The first to do so were the privileges for prosecutors, whose scandal over abuse of disability pensions is still on their lips. However, it seems that even public outcry is not enough to implement these changes.

How do the authorities plan to limit prosecutors' special pensions, who is against it, and why is this only the first and easiest step in a major reform of the pension system?